


She Grew Up Tough

by dreamwalking78



Series: Wayhaught One Shots [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, EFA Fic Challenge 2020, F/F, One Shot, Tender - Freeform, Wayhaught - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:00:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25630111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamwalking78/pseuds/dreamwalking78
Summary: Being tough came easy to Waverly Earp. Tender scared her to death.
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Series: Wayhaught One Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857886
Comments: 19
Kudos: 142





	She Grew Up Tough

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote two for the challenge. I'm choosing this one, but the other one will be released later. This isn't anything new or revolutionary to anyone who has saw season one. It's a look into Waverly Earp and why someone like Nicole scared her so much. 
> 
> Catch me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/dreamwalking_78) or on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/geckogirl9)

Tough. It's not the first word most people associate with Waverly Earp, but it's what she's grown accustomed to.

First there was surviving Willa and her continued attempts to injure the youngest child. Then there was her father, who once her mother left, couldn't even be bothered to remember her birthday. Any attention she was graced with was only when she was in trouble. It was easier to hide behind the chair away from his drunken glares. Her clothes were handed down from her sisters. Nothing was ever her own. Wynonna was the only one who showed her any affection and even she couldn’t remember a simple date. 

When the gun fired, taking him and Willa away, Waverly learned a new kind of tough. She learned to thicken her skin at the insults of everyone in town when it came to Wynonna, her only protector. Ignoring the name calling and outright lies wasn't easy, but tough was all Waverly had known. She learned to survive classmates calling her crazy and cursed. She learned tough when the only person who had been nice to her was sent away time and time again. She thought she could handle anything until Wynonna left the final time on her own. Sure, Waverly had Gus and Curtis and with them she found a bit of tenderness. They weren’t able to see her sister the way she did, so that part of her stayed hidden behind a smile and a wave.

Even as she grew up, tough would be how she viewed love. Sure, she had tender role models like Gus and Curtis, but even they were fans of tough love. It was just nice to have someone who cared how she was doing in school and remembered her birthday. The past safely tucked behind her, Waverly soon became the nicest girl in Purgatory. 

When being in love with Champ was tough, she thought that was exactly how it was supposed to work. It wasn't that she didn't know about the other women, but someone paid her attention and offered the briefest moments of tenderness. Waverly had read so many amazing love stories that she had hoped were true. When sparks didn’t fly, she decided fiction was just that. Real life was tough. She stayed, standing by his side when she knew he would chase the next piece of tail that grabbed his attention. When that piece turned out to be her sister returning, well that was unexpected.

So imagine when a devastatingly beautiful redhead walks into the bar right after the busted tap soaked her shirt, just how Waverly felt. Of course meeting the newest officer wouldn't have went simple. The thing was, when Nicole helped her out of her shirt, she couldn't help but notice how gentle and tender Nicole was in removing the shirt. Careful to make sure her hair was not pulled. Careful to avert her eyes away from Waverly while still offering a warm smile. Waverly found herself drawn to that softness instantly. Yes, the woman was cocky, confident, but something about it was not off putting. Something was different. She found herself wondering how Nicole kissed before she dashed that thought from her mind. She had Champ. Except did she really?

Alone with her grief, Waverly stood at the bar she had worked at her entire adult life. She mourned the loss of Shorty, a man she had loved like a father figure. So much of her life had changed and spun out of control that the wall of strength she had fortified through the years was starting to crack. She had been tough when Curtis was killed. She had held tough when dangling from the noose at the homestead. She held her own up until this moment when everything crashed. 

As she heard her name called out, she looked up meeting eyes full of concern and sympathy. Not the same look she had been given about her father and Willa’s death. This was something more, something deeper. Warm hands took hers as an apology rolled forth in the most sincere manner possible. The most tender embrace held her captivated, stopping the world for just a moment. Then it was broken.

Champ, so focused on himself, roughly wrapped his arms around Waverly forcing kisses against her skull. As the tenderness she had been freely given for the first time in years started to slip away, Waverly found herself unable to let it go. She reached out, stretching out to grasp at Nicole’s hand that was pulling away. As her hand stopped short falling against the wood surface, Waverly was shocked to find Nicole immediately giving her full attention to her once again. It felt nice to be seen. Her brain stuttered, so instead of saying what she wanted, instead of asking why she was being so nice, she thanked her for calling about Wynonna. Even as Nicole walked away, Waverly found herself in a daze, confused by her own reaction to Nicole and the redhead’s display of genuine concern.

Waverly wasn’t a mean person, not at all. So when she snapped at Nicole, she fully expected her to yell back. When she was met with soft words, her brain short circuited again. Why was Nicole so much different than anyone else in her life? Why was she acting like this? Then a trigger flipped, Champ was like this in the beginning. Just another shithead. Except she knew with one look into Nicole’s eyes that she wasn’t. Waverly was not ready to admit everything nor let her walls down, she thought friends would be a safe middle ground. Until she noticed how much that one word had hurt. Suddenly she felt smaller than she had before. Not for anything Nicole had done, but for her own actions. Maybe, just maybe, she had been tough for so long, she really didn’t know how to handle tenderness.

When Gus can call Waverly out, she knows it’s time to listen. When what Gus says agrees with what Waverly knew deep down inside, but wasn't willing to admit, she acts irrationally. This is new territory and Waverly’s scared. That is until her lips touch Nicole’s. It’s rough the way she throws herself at the deputy, which is such a stark contrast to the softness of her lips, the care in her grasp as she holds on as they fall back onto Nedley’s couch. 

She’s stopped by the deputy’s confusion at exactly what’s happening. Suddenly the walls come tumbling down as she admits everything in a rambling pattern. She’s terrified to look at Nicole until she sees her face soften at the admission of fear. Tender eyes stare back at her, comforting her. She’s not being rejected, quite the opposite. She doesn’t even have to be tough as Nicole walks her through it. Soft kisses become more pressing, more passionate as Nicole flips them. If this is Nicole’s version of tough, Waverly finds herself lost in the warm touches against her leg and the hungry lips seeking out hers, while soft eyes continue to check in with her. 

Fights are the worst, but Waverly was prepared for this. If she needed to be tough again, then so be it. She threw herself into redecorating and working with Wynonna. Then Nicole walks in and suddenly, she doesn’t want to be tough. She wants that tenderness back. She’s missed it. A lot. When promises are made, Waverly searches those amber depths looking for the hesitation. She waits for Nicole to look away, anything really to cause her guard to throw up stone walls. It’s not there. 

Tender hands stop her for reassurance. She stumbles with words to express what she’s thinking, but Nicole seems to understand. With tender hands encouraging her, Waverly jumps into the most tender, safe embrace she’s ever experienced as she falls back on a soft new mattress meticulously decorated with a new duvet and sheets. Everything is so new, yet comfortable, right. Carefully Nicole’s hand raises before going down to caress her side. Waverly Earp has been tough her entire life, yet for the first time, she’s not afraid to be tender.

**Author's Note:**

> In a way, my wife reminds me of Waverly Earp. She's the youngest of three. Her birthday was easily forgotten by her parents. When she researches something, she goes down the rabbit hole of information. She didn't have Wynonna to protect her. Even now, almost sixteen years later from swimming out into the ocean with me, the walls are still there at times. So writing this was a reflection on that as well.


End file.
